The Island

Another great battle rages between Portmarnock and The Island. Two grand courses, two completely different experiences - from the golf to the social interaction. I enjoyed both rounds immensely, but The Island puts a smile on your face and delivers far more thrills. Portmarnock on the other hand has a reputation that few can match. It is also more challenging as placement from the tee is crucial and there is serious danger lurking on approaches (bunkering).

[Photo: Par 3 15th at Portmarnock]

Some might say that means it is better designed, but I would disagree because the average golfer wants to see that little bit more room for his shot. The Island offers more of that, as well as some serious dunes.

For me, two encounters also sum up the difference between the courses: during lunch at Portmarnock I watched a stuffed shirt walk over to the waitress and say: "I ordered tea", before returning to his seat. No please or thank you. At The Island I bumped into a greenkeeper, Kevin Parker, on the 10th tee box and we chatted for a good five minutes about a bit of everything - he didn't know who I was - and back in the clubhouse another long chat ensued with the assistant pro, Marcus Monaghan.

I'm not really knocking the superiority that oozes from the Portmarnock club and, like a select few other clubs, they don't want the 'average golfer' tramping over their domain, but in terms of the excitement you want from a round of golf, The Island would be my choice, and it's cheaper too. [Photo: Par 5 15th at The Island]



I played with a friend from America in February 2007, and he asked me if I was offered 100 free rounds of golf at the K Club and Portmarnock, how many would I choose to play at each. My answer was 80 at Portmarnock, with 20 at the K Club just to have some variety. Replace Portmarnock with The Island and the K Club wouldn't even figure.

Meath Chronicle Article - Published 10/4/08

Golf is nothing but a passion for some people. They can talk and analyse and debate for hours over the minutiae of one shot, one player or one golf hole. One of the most passionate men around is Pat Ruddy. Starting out as a journalist he has now become a revered golf course designer, with The European his shining and global success. Several other courses bear his hallmark, but many Irish golfers will never have heard of Ballinlough Castle. It is undoubtedly a course in waiting. The condition of it may not be as refined as other nearby ‘big’ courses, but look at the aesthetics, the space, the potential, and you’ll see a course of the future. This is a great challenge of golf and one of the most unexpected on my travels. I played with Tony Brady who is an instrumental member of the club. He pointed out all of the changes that will come in the years ahead, from the practice range to the clubhouse and, more dramatically, to the location of new tees and greens. As I said, a passion.

I am in the happy position of writing a golf book on the 18 hole courses of Ireland. All 360-plus of them. And that means visiting every one in my camper van. [Photo: Rathcore Par 3 11th]


Yes, it is another golf book. And yes, of course it’s different to every other golf book out there. For one thing, I’m reviewing every course personally and there is no other book out there that even comes close to doing that. Some may ask why I’d bother when there are so many books that deal with the ‘important’ courses. Well, it’s simple: I’ve always felt that too much attention is paid to the great courses, and that the smaller courses are shoved rather unceremoniously into the night.

My goal is to give every course a full page, describing what’s good about it, why it is (or isn’t) worth your time and how it scores against every other course. There are great courses like Moyvalley and Rathcore, and then there are basic courses like Moor Park. Comparing them is pointless, but appreciating what each course offers can be very helpful for visitors, tourist golfers and local societies. And that’s what I hope my book will deliver.

[Photo: Moyvalley Par 4 10th]

My current tour of 22 courses in 16 days has taken me from The Curragh, through Kildare and Meath, over to Laytown & Bettystown and then down in to North Dublin. I have played five very new courses: Dunmurry Springs, Moyvalley, Rathcore, Knightsbrook and Bellewstown. There are so many new courses out there it’s a wonder how they all keep going. The two that jumped out at me were Moyvalley and Rathcore because they are close to each other, about the same age and completely different. Moyvalley is a spectacular rollercoaster of a course, created by Darren Clarke, that was deathly quiet on a gloriously sunny, Saturday afternoon. It has all the trimmings with the hotel and plush clubhouse (certainly some of the best locker rooms I’ve seen), but there were no more than six cars in the car park. When the club opened in 2006, they were asking €75,000 for membership. That didn’t cut any ice with the locals and, today, it has slumped to €10,000. Yet it is a course that deserves more – more visitors and more respect. A local said to me that the Irish and English see the same situation differently: if you excel, an Irishman wants to bring you down a peg or two; an Englishman, on the other hand, will enjoy your success and brag about how he knew you when you were nothing. That seems to be what’s happening at Moyvalley: because they started off so high and mighty and ignored the local market, the locals now want to bring them down that peg or two. Move on. Get over it. It’s a fantastic course and should be played.

I played Rathcore the next day and it is firmly among my top parkland courses. It is short for a new course and demands brains over brawn. I like to hit the ball – the harder the better – but using your head is far more satisfying when it delivers a smart birdie or a sensible par. The course is beautifully coated in gorse and hillocks and water. It oozes charm and has, in 11 and 16, two spectacular side-by-side par threes. If you have a spare €8,000 then the membership is a bargain.

Knighstbrook goes in the opposite direction to Rathcore: it is long, unsubtle and not very pretty. Christy O’Connor Junior’s signature is heavy fairway mounding and I find it off-putting. Doglegs also abound and you don’t get to see enough of interest off the tee. Now obviously this is a subjective opinion, and the course is extremely testing and excellent quality, but you come in exhausted and trying hard to remember all the holes. And for those who think that if I play badly I give the course a poor review, I beat my handicap. [Photo: Knightsbrook Par 3 5th]

Finally, Bellewstown. What a riot. True to all farmland, parkland courses, the design is quirky and unexpected. There can’t be many modern designers who would look at this hillside and say, ‘yes, that’s perfect’. But Bellewstown delivers excitement in abundance as well as a serious workout.

I played plenty of older courses too, with Royal Tara being one of the highlights. I’d like to say it was a highlight because of the golf (which was very entertaining – all 27 holes), but it was crossing over the brutalised earth that will soon become the M3 that snapped me to attention. Having heard so much about it, it sent a shiver down my spine to actually see it. I’m sorry to the people of Meath who want to get to work faster, but ripping up our heritage is an abomination and it is not the solution. Shame on the government muppets who decided to push this through, and that includes John Gormley, Dick Roche and our friend Bertie.

And then came Laytown & Bettystown. Travelling in a camper van is fairly lonely and dull, but I am lucky enough that most clubs allow me to spend the night in the car park. Of course, not everyone gets told of my stay, so I have been confronted and informed that the car park is private property. The most aggressive of these came at Bettystown, and I don’t blame the man a bit. The clubhouse alarm went off at 5am, screeching out at a pitch that scrapes the back of your eyes. I had no choice but to get up and I then did a quick walkabout. I could see nothing odd and I was returning to the van when a car came roaring straight at me, headlights blazing. Disturbed from his sleep by the security company, the man clearly thought I was responsible and gave me an earful before I could explain who I was. As I said, I don’t blame him for his reaction but I ended up sighing with exasperation when I was confronted again that night in Balbriggan. Perhaps a ‘Golfer on board’ sticker will help.

Corballis Confrontation

Corballis. A links course. A public links course run by Fingal County Council. And boy is it fun! Dangerous too, but you’re unlikely to find a links course anywhere in the world that offers some fine links holes for 20-odd quid.
Nursing a continuing dodgy foot, I walked Corballis (having played St. Margaret’s in the morning), carrying a 7 iron to hit a few bump shots around the green. I was stopped by a very irate Superintendent as I approached the four new holes (4 to 7) as I was ‘playing’ the course when I hadn’t paid a green fee. I explained what I was doing but he wasn’t remotely interested. And then he threw that most wonderful of lines at me. “I’ve been a Superintendent here for 30 years, and I have never…” blah, blah, blah!
Yet up ahead there was a six ball playing, which didn’t seem to bother him, and after he drove off in his van he merrily drove along the third fairway. [Photo of the 2nd]
Now, I know he was only doing his job, but if I wasn’t so polite I’d tell him where to stick his 30 years.

Portsalon, finally

Fortunately I made it back to Portsalon on Friday 18th, as I'd hoped. It was Dunfanaghy in the morning - a true test of links golf that will require every bump and run skill you possess - and then a trip to Portsalon to experience a superb opening stretch of opening holes. I've attached a pic of the 14th, Matterhorn, another beautiful but terrifying hole that drives over the 13th green - the flag is not visible in the pic, but a small yellow post can be seen in the middle of the pic, and the green is beyond that, in front of what looks like a white dot.

Yes, it was a beautiful day, but brutally cold. While I played a select 9 holes (1-6, 13, 14 and 18), my wife walked our dogs on the stretch of beach that is also attached. It is a beautiful spot, aside from the holiday houses, and is one of those colourful courses that thrills every step of the way.

Portsalon: a huge disappointment

My huge disappointment was not the course… but not being able to play it. With an injured foot I had to take it easy and Cathal, the club’s manager, arranged for me to have a buggy. I nipped around the course in an hour and a half, overwhelmed by the thrills it presents and furious that I couldn’t play it. I’m here in Donegal until Friday, so maybe I’ll get back there and play one of the best opening stretches on Ireland’s shores. The attached picture shows the best 2nd hole in Ireland, a truly spectacular affair that will strike the fear of God into many golfers. The yellow flag sits just over the furthest left hand edge of the river.

There is no doubt that the housing boom in Ireland has had some unattractive consequences, and these can be seen around golf courses, like Portsalon. Holiday homes are littered about the entrance and along the road before you reach the club. As you play 16, you drive straight at some of these homes and it detracts from the beauty of the course.

Talking to Cathal, he said that many of these homes are only used for four to five weeks a year, and that they’ve only popped up over the last ten years or so.

So let’s be thankful that in 1986, when the hotelier owner decided to sell Portsalon, the members grouped together and raised the funds to buy it. They sold £50 raffle tickets and managed to pull in £150,000 in just three months. The asking price was £65,000, and the additional funds went towards prizes and into the club. As Cathal was telling me this I looked out at the course and its extensive beach, assessing how this stretch of land would be any developer’s nirvana. Aren’t we lucky that a course that dates back to 1891 and is one of the GUI’s founding members, wasn’t consumed by our enormous housing boom. Golfers the world over should be extremely grateful that this great links course is alive and kicking to this day.

Athlone vs Glasson

Wherever you go, there will always be a couple of courses side-by-side that golfers will compare. County Sligo vs Strandhill, County Louth vs Seapoint, and Athlone vs Glasson.

One has the reputation, the pedigree and the celebrity factor that draws the visitors; the other, well, sits in the shadows. In all three of the above instances you'll get a real buzz by playing both courses. And for me, this is most marked with Athlone and Glasson.

Glasson is, comparatively, the young pretender. It has acres of space and it has Christy O'Connor Jr's name to it. It has wonderful views and a lilting landscape that simply begs for a golf course to be adorned across it. And it has a great hotel too, making Glasson a comprehensive, full-bodied golfing experience. [Pic: Glasson 14th tee]

Athlone dates back to 1892 and the maturity of the trees makes it a stunning course: 1 is superb, and 7 and 15 must get harder every year with trees defending against all shots. Athlone, too, has a big Irish name attached to the design (in part): Des Smyth. And the Hodson Bay Hotel sits next door. The landscape is just as captivating as Glasson. [Pic: Athlone approach to 3rd green]

So how do you compare the two?

The way to answer that is to play them in quick succession. I know which I prefer, because the course offers more enticing shots and greater challenges, as well as an impressive amount of variety.

No golf today

I was due to pick up my camper van today - after repairs - but there didn't seem much point. No course is going to let me play in this weather.

King of the Castle

King of the Castle

I thought all my Christmases had come at once when I arrived at Castle’s 10th tee to find an RTE TV crew waiting for me. Clearly, word about my book was spreading, but even I didn’t dare dream of appearing on TV. Such coverage would be great for raising my profile, as well as future book sales. I wondered if it was for the Late Late Show or Nationwide. In one fell swoop I would be qualified to become a judge on You’re a Star, sing alongside Dustin or appear on that stunning Irish show: Celebrities Go Wild.

I was informed, quite brutally actually, that the crew was filming Castle Golf Club member Paddy Cole, a renowned jazz musician from the 60s, 70s and 80s, about whom RTE were making a life documentary. Shame really. Just for a second I was up with the greats.

Castle was a genuine surprise for me. Having been born and raised in Dublin I had never heard of the course, even though it is a stone’s throw from Milltown, a course I know well. So when I arrived at 7.30 in the morning I was immediately impressed by what I saw: a pretty, heavily-conifered, rolling course.

I was met at the door by Billy, the Facilities Manager, who welcomed me and informed me that I was going out as a fourball with him, Paul, the Head Greenkeeper, and Dave, a friend of Paul’s from Stackstown. Once we were all on the tee it was simply a question of how much money was involved. We agreed on €1, €1 and €1. I was teamed with Billy, 15, against Paul, 7, and Dave, 19. A fairly equal match that see-sawed perfectly over the opening holes. I was very impressed by the course, particularly as I wasn’t expecting such great contours, but obviously my main focus was on the money. At least that was my excuse for a triple bogey at the 2nd.

I had a two on the par three 7th, but it was only good enough for a half. It was evident by that point that Billy wasn’t used to losing money and we headed to 10th, 1 up. Here we met the RTE crew and we watched with amusement as Paddy and two friends walked onto the tee box, with Paddy hitting to the par three. Then we watched as he did it again, and again until the folks at RTE were happy. By this stage there were four of his shots on the green, 190 yards away. Not bad at all for a man of his years. And I kept one of the balls as a little memento, despite Billy wanting to return them all to the great man.

The back 9 was as competitive as the front and for the purposes of my book I had to remind myself to pay attention to what was going on around me. When you play for money, in a close match, the holes tend to fly by. But Castle has good character and charm, and all of the holes can boast plenty of interest. 16 and 17 are back-to-back par fives, while the 18th (pictured) will wreck many scorecards with its demands for a laser sharp drive between the trees. Our match went all the way to the green.

There’s nothing here that disappoints, and taking all €3 was a big help too. Thank you, Billy. I was also treated to lunch, for which I was very grateful, before heading on to Stackstown for my second round of the day.